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Tour Notebook: Breaking down the stats

With the close of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup season, the leaders in the numerous statistical categories were settled.

Even hard-core golf fans might not care to know who led the Tour in average proximity to the hole from 75 to 100 yards from the green, in the rough (Justin Hicks, that’s who). But there are enough nuggets to store away for 19th-hole trivia bets.

■ First, the basics: Luke List led the Tour in driving distance (306.3 yards), Jerry Kelly led in driving accuracy (.718), Henrik Stenson led in greens in regulation (.719), Steve Stricker led in scoring (68.945) and Greg Chalmers led in strokes gained putting.

■ Among area players, Jim Furyk led in average proximity to the hole (31 feet, 3 inches). Matt Kuchar was nosed out by Chalmers for the best three-putt avoidance (Kuchar only three-putted 29 times) and Billy Horschel was second to Brandon de Jonge in percentage or rounds in the 60s (26).

■ Who would you want in a scramble if the best drive is in a fairway bunker? Trevor Immelman, that’s who. He hit the green .691 percent of the time when in fairway traps. How about avoiding fairway bunkers? Mark Wilson found sand off the tee the least, only 23-of-696 times.

■ Who hits the most greens from 75-to-100 yards? Jin Park, at a .976 rate. Who sticks it closer from that distance? Robert Karlsson, an average proximity of 12-5.

■ K.J. Choi led the Tour in sand saves, making par .672 percent of the time from greenside traps. Justin Rose led in proximity from bunkers, 6-10.

■ Five players did not miss a putt from 3 feet or closer: Luke Donald, Sergio Garcia, Freddie Jacobson, Park and Gary Woodland. But Woodland had the most attempts, by far, making 94 of 94.

■ Brian Gay had the most one-putts, .457 percent of his total greens hit.

■ Of course here’s what counts the most: Stenson won the FedEx Cup, Tiger Woods won the money title, and Woods won the most tournaments.

Solheim Cup in Iowa

The LPGA announced that the 2017 Solheim Cup will be played at the Des Moines Golf and Country Club. It will be the second Pete Dye design to be the Solheim Cup venue. The event was played at Crooked Stick in Carmel, Ind., in 2005.

The Solheim Cup is an international match play event matching a team from the U.S. vs. Europe. Europe won 18-10 in Augusta at the Colorado Golf Club, the first victory on American soil. The U.S. has an overall 8-5 lead.

The Des Moines G&CC’s biggest tournament to date has been the 1999 U.S. Senior Open.

Ratings dip

Absent Woods and Phil Mickelson in contention, the final round of the Tour Championship last Sunday in Atlanta had an overnight rating of 1.6 on NBC for Stenson’s double victory of winning the tournament and the FedEx Cup.

It was a 27 percent decrease from last year’s 2.2 rating. The 2011 final round was 1.4.

The rating was the third-lowest for any round in the FedEx Cup playoffs. The second-lowest was the third round at East Lake, 1.4. That was a 36 percent drop from last year.